A passenger is facing charges for allegedly threatening to “blow up” a Panama-bound plane that was escorted back to Toronto’s Pearson airport by two U.S. military jets.

According to a video filmed by a passenger, Peel Regional Police officers shouted “hands up, heads down” as they boarded the plane shortly after it landed at about 9 a.m.

The tactical unit arrested Ali Shahi, 25. Police charged the Canadian citizen with uttering threats and endangering the safety of an aircraft. The RCMP said its national security enforcement team is assisting with the investigation.

Sunwing Flight 772 left Toronto at 7 a.m. with 183 passengers — including two infants — and a crew of six.

It was heading to Panama City, but turned back approximately 45 minutes into the flight over West Virginia “when an agitated customer made a direct threat against the aircraft,” the airline said in a statement.

The 25-year-old passenger became increasingly agitated after the plane took off, Sunwing President Mark Williams said. The man tore up magazines and the safety card and tried to rip the window shade off, he said. After the passenger told the crew that he wanted to “blow up the airplane,” the pilot decided to execute the airline’s emergency response plan, Williams said.

Two F16 fighter jets escorted the plane back to Toronto after the aircraft was forced to turn around. The military planes based out of Toledo, Ohio, were in the air doing exercise flight training at the time of the incident, and the pilots were asked to shadow the Sunwing plane “as a precautionary measure,” Capt. Jennifer Stadnyk of NORAD public affairs said. After the plane landed, the F16 pilots flew back to their home base, she said.

A photo of Ali Shahi of Thunder Bay, OntarioCREDIT: FACEBOOK

Police searched Shahi and the plane, but did not find any weapons, or anything that would allow him to act on his threat, Constable Lilly Fitzpatrick said.

Sunwing said it would do a full security inspection of the plane before returning it to service.

None of the passengers were injured. They are expected to depart for Panama sometime this afternoon. The airline gave them meal vouchers so they could have lunch while they wait.

Shahi is also facing mischief charges. He is due to appear in a Brampton court for a bail hearing Saturday morning.